Grandson of Pakistani bus conductor becomes Scottish govt minister for transport

Humza Yousaf, a Muslim politician elected to the Scottish parliament, says he is delighted as the grandson of a Pakistani bus conductor to become the Minister for Transport in the Scottish government.

Yousaf, a member of the Scottish National Party who won a seat from the city of Glasgow, expressed his delight in messages posted to his 47 thousand Twitter followers on Wednesday.

To continue theme...delighted as grandson of Pakistani bus conductor to be Minister for Transport & the Islands! Can't wait to get stuck in

— Humza Yousaf (@HumzaYousaf) May 18, 2016

Yousaf is the son of immigrants – a Pakistani father and Kenyan mother – who came to Britain in the 1960s.

Last week, he took oath as the MSP for Glasgow Pollok wearing a a kilt and a sherwani, an outfit which he described as fusing "both my Scottish and Pakistani heritage".

A video posted on social media went viral as it showed Yousaf taking the oath of allegiance in English and then in Urdu, as other members took their oath in Doric, Gaelic and Scots as well as English.

.@HumzaYousaf just gave his swearing in oath in Urdu. Look how great it sounds: pic.twitter.com/mvPqRucslx

— Siraj Datoo (@dats) May 12, 2016

Humza on the occasion posted pictures with family on Facebook and expressed his intention of working ‘tirelessly for the good people of Pollok and Scotland.’

Yousaf completed his degree in Politics from the University of Glasgow in 2007 and joined the Scottish Parliament as an aide to MSP late Bashir Ahmad.

He was elected a member of the Scottish Parliament in 2011 from SNP.

In 2012, Yousaf, not only became the youngest minister in the Scottish government’s history for being appointed the first-ever Minister for External Affairs and International Development, but also the first minister belonging to an ethnic minority background.

According to the MP’s personal website, he is an alumnus of the US State Department's International Visitor Learning Programme and his interests include “tackling mental health stigma, poverty, civil liberties, issues affecting young people and international affairs.”

The Scottish National Party, Scotland's largest political party which Yousaf belongs to, championed Scotland's unsuccessful bid for independence in 2014.